1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to merchandise display hooks that are attached to a display board or a wire display rack. More particularly, the present invention relates to display hooks that either prevent the rapid removal of items of merchandise from the display hook or prevent removal of items of merchandise when the display hook is locked. Specifically, the present invention relates to display hooks that can be locked to a display board or wire rack to prevent the removal of the display hook from the display rack while also preventing the removal of merchandise from the display hook or preventing rapid removal of the merchandise. In this application, the term “locked” is defined as a condition that requires a key to change the condition from locked to unlocked. A locked connection is thus more secure than a latched condition.
2. Background Information
Items of merchandise are commonly displayed for sale on long protruding rods supported from peg board or slat board. These protruding rods are commonly referred to in the art as peg board hooks or slat board hooks. Similar rods may also protrude from a wire display rack for the same purpose. Usually, the items of merchandise are of a smaller range, such as batteries or small tools or other components. Such merchandise is an easy target for shoplifters because they can rapidly remove all the items from a display hook and remove the merchandise from the store without being detected. Alternately, the entire display hook with the merchandise can be removed from peg boards and the like if they are not locked thereon. Therefore, it is desired in the art to provide security hooks that prevent both the removal of the display hooks from the peg boards or wire racks and the rapid removal of items of merchandise from the display hooks.